PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 18 August 1909, Page 85

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

PIRST STEPS TOWARDS LITERARY

STYLE

This is the title of an article written Bom© months ago -by the Rev. A. N. Malan, D.D., and from it I un making an extract that, I think, will be interesting to most of my readers. The extract, commencing " For although," and ending " from their slumbers," has in it, you will notice, three or four periods to indicate that words have been omitted; and as the words omitted to save space are as many as those left in, j r ou can imagine •what a long sentence the whole forms, for there isn't a full* stop in the whole of it. From it good examples can be obtained of loose sentences— -I suppose most of you know what they are. But I must not take up any more space myself, seeing that the extracts will more than"" occupy my allotted spaoe.

In 'ie perusal of a book the reader may possibly derive more gratification from the style than interest in the subject: On the other band his interest in the subject may be impaired by the quality of the styJe:Dr. Johnson defines Style «s ' : the manner or writing -virti regatd-to language." .Swift 6ays, "Proper words in proper places -make the true definition of style." The former seems preferable. It is the "manner of writing" r ihat cxeroises a potent influence upon the reader's mind. It may. be that a writer puts "proper words in proper places," yet his '"manner of writing" may annoy rather than please. Style may vary, on the 'quct bo.nines' principle ; but, like other products of intellect, it must oo amenable to verdict complimentary or the reverse? It contains plenty of "proper words in proper places," but what about the "manner of writing"? For although, as we have sadd, Dick Rowan, Lord Melrose, the Count, and the Frenob chroniqueur -were the only permanent residents beneath the Pacha's roof during this fortnight the four remaining guest-chambers in the palace were never empty ; for Djavil's house was literally Liberty Hall, and there was a constant ebb and flow of all kinds of persons there more or less invited by the Pacha : people from our Embassy and people from «verjr other Embassy, people of every rank and position : from a verj Broad Church Knglish divine, who was r3nt on out of' sheer mischief by ouv Ambassador, Lord Mailing, and who came, accompanied by his florid, comely, and substantial spouse, both inclined to I>3 slightly querulous about the Holy i'laces, until they had tasted the waterilrinfcjng Djavil's incomparable Yquem ; she. indeed, almost brought at length to forget the Turkish Woman's burning 1 , wrongs m the delightful dulohatz served in dainty silver eaucers ; but he ... was up and about by 6 every morning, and very often steaming down in the direction of Stamboul to look after foreign affairs of the empire before many of his guests had awakened from their slumbers. ("A Kiss of Judas," "by X.L., pp. 168-170. Methuen.) Contiast with the above a paragraph from the Daily Telegiaph on "Tramps." Who are they? What are they? Whai do they live on' Nobcdy knows. They are not in any lack of food, for most of them incline' to sleekness. When they are not sleeping they are most often eating. But where they get thb food nobody knows. They only exist in tho summer. The first warm weather brings them out like the wasps and the hedgehogs. Do- they hibernate like- the hedgehog? Nobody ever «ees them, in winter, but every summer brings them out with the old sleekness, the old rags, •and the old dirt. They roil not, neither do they spin ; and certainly Solomon in all his glory Avas not arrayed like one of these. Perhaps they do not belong to this world at all. Their calm is so remote from the hurry of life. They certainly do not eat their bread in the sweat of their brow. They .never show any interest :n things or persons. Like the Epicurean gods, they are far aloof from the troubles of toiling humanity. Toiling humanity exists but to pay for parks in which they may bask and sleep and sew up their shirts and diffuse their fragrance. Regulations, indeed, may object; but regulations are "a tale of little meaning, though

the words are strong."

The 6tyle of this quotation i« in strong contrast to that of the other. The former is a bewildering concatenation of 359 words in one sentence. The latter is a teree arrangement of 214 words in 18 sentences. When read-ing the former we reach the final period with a siph of " weariness and exhaustion ; the Jatter leaves a emile of contentment upon the face, and a sense of exhilaration in the mind.

The question to be asked is, How shall we awaken literary style in boys between 10 and 14 years of .age? How may we try to rouse from infantile slumber tha possibly latent spark of literary genius? When reading a book whereof the style is of such superlative excellence that the mind is snell-round fcj h magica! charm of language, the reader may pause to wonder how the writer was first led to the development of his gift. For, after all. a gift it must be. akin to that of the poet. But though we ca/inot train a boy to *-3 a post, we may lead him to aim at a good style in writing : and such a gift may be latent in the soul of some little scaramouch whose ink-imbued fingers are making the pen splutter incontinently before vis. To 6pcak from experience— l am conscious of never havinir received one hint upon English composition throug-h all the years 1 took to climb from the Third to the Sixth Form at school, in the fifties of the last century. Suddenly, one afternoon, •wb<*n I proudly took my seat in the Sixih Form classroom, Mr C gave out a subject for an English essay, to be written then and there. I forget the subject, but I Temember the outcome of my luckless Tenture^— how I stood abashed while he looked it over — how I shrivelled under the withering sarcsem of his criticism, and Jondly hoped the other boys might not overhear his remarks. He had written on my essay. "W<3&k as water, and weaker." But I have inwardly thanked him since for a line of advice also written on the hateful paper— "Read, read, read good English •itera'tur«."

There is an appendix at the end of th© Latin Grammar dealing with figures of speech. After a long course of the dry bones of syntax, boys generally find it refreshing to attack those pages. The class suffers from a harmless hind oil appendicitis, and some of the Boye aro found to like it. Genders of nouns and conjugation of irregular verbs do pall upon the mind after a time— they become insipid and boring. But the names, Oxymoron, Zeugma, Simile, Metaphor, Irony, Onoroatopoea, Periphrasis, are highsounding titlea They prove, on acquaintance, to he little cultivated plots in th© gardens of literature, w&ere flowers o£ beauty may be jathered. Boys have been known to "liven up" wonderfully over these inspiriting names: their attention is arrested, their imagination is quickened, their artistio taste is stimulated, and they frequently become genuinely excited. . Beautiful pictures are drawn throughout the whole realm' of literature in every language by the magic touch of metaphor. Boys should be encouraged to try their ha-nd at such word-painting in "their own composition— to enrich their letters home, their stories and essays in school, with something beyond the dulness of ordinary writing. When once the spark of enthusiasm in this direction is struck, the fire will soon catch on. -

Metaphor is a figure of speech which"] renders the subject striking by aid- of ) expressions primarily referring to other j objects. (1) It may represent, inanimate ■ things as endowed with life, feeling reason, I etc.— e.g., "the grim visage of winter, the J smiling face of spring," "the valleys stand i so ' thick with corn, that they shall laugh a<nd sing." (2) It may represent abstract ideas clothed in bodily dress— e.g., "the i star of renown shines on the hero's brow," "the victorious general was raised to the pinnacle of honour." (3) It may be a kind of shortened simile — e.g., "the silver , moon," "tho golden sun," "ruby lips," ' "pearly teeth." There is the whole matter in a nutshell. The common xnse of metaphor may be explained by saying that things seen and handled are most familiar to mankind, and language originally referred chiefly to such things. When a higher degree of intellectual advance brought in mental, ideal, spiritual reflection, the only way to speak of such conceptions was to employ the expressions used for visible things in a new sense. The parables of the New Testament are chains of metaphor. They convey spiritual reaching in the garb of material persons and incidents. But boys are not 1 expected to write in parables. (I am I largely indebted to th© article on Metaphor in the "Penny Encyclopaedia.") All great speakers and writers make a frequent and free -use of metaphor, and that use is not always accurate. - Metaphors are sometimes mixed. Although such mixture is carefully to be avoided, yet wihe^i ' it occurs there is compensation. The dis- ! criminating ear keenly appreciates the comical element of a mixed" metaphor. A bombastic orator ouce electrified hi 6 audience by^ exclaiming, f'Tbe flood-ftates of revolution are advancing on a full tide."' A moment's reflection detect* the absurdity. Wherees, if he had said, "The flood-gates are opened, and: revolution is advancing on a full .tide,'-', the metaphor would have carried powerful conviction.

Similar trippings by those in high places were collected in a recent magazine article.' | Lord , Curzon once remarked, "Though not i,out of the wood, we have «. good ship." Mr Brodrick told the Commons that "Among many jarring notes heard in this House on military affairs, this subject at least may be regarded as an oasis." In the House of Lords the Government ■ were warned -that "the rights of the people are being trampled uoon by ijbe mailed fist of authority." Mi M'Hugh declared that the Government was "iron-bound with red ' tape." At a meeting of the Parish Council in -a little- Corniish town, after a stormy debate, | the chairman rose to sum up. "What!" ' he exclaimed; "you keep us here till 2 : o'clock at night,- and then you cast the ; town drains in our teeth ! You keep us here ploughing the sands, and then, when all decent folk are asleep, you dig up that ' everlasting -ed herring and expect us to ' 6wallow it! It won't do, mark you. It's , too barefaced to hold water!" There is a j racy flavour about that "mixture" which must have tickled the most obstinate palate j

Beautiful metaphors are stars that sparkle in the firmament of intellectual thought. Bova may be encouraged to keep a good look out for them when they read a book. If they can be brought to appreciate the charm, a decided step will have been made upon the road of teaching them the art of English composition.